Roadwarriormomof2
Nov 2019
My 9 year old and I (his mom) did the Street Tour and then my son did the Graffiti lesson immediately afterwards. Both were terrific. Despite the cold, the Street Tour was fascinating and completely engaging. Both of us learned so much. As someone who lived in NYC in the 1980s and remembered the subway cars being covered in graffiti I feel like I left the tour with such a better understanding of how graffiti as an artform fits into the larger social and political landscape and also have a much better understanding of the artform and skill of it all. I think it is important to note that most of the graffiti you will see in Brooklyn is sanctioned by the building owners and not just random artists tagging buildings illegally. But of course learning about the illegal graffiti is part of what is discussed. Think of this as a much hipper and cooler art tour that you might get at a museum - but one where a 9 year old will listen raptly and hang on every word. And the graffiti that we saw was really stunning - simply beautiful and complex artwork that as the tour went on you could appreciate so much more with the detailed explanations. For the rest of our weekend in NYC, and since we have been back home, we look at graffiti so much differently and have such a better appreciation of it as artwork.
Taking the tour first was a great set up for the workshop. Now that we had seen all of these fabulous walls, it was time for my son to try his hand at it. The instructor was super patient and in a very methodological way walked through the process of learning how to control the paint cans and apply the color. That made us appreciate what skill and expertise go into each street art piece. The best part is that my son left with a canvas that he made and now it is hanging in his room. He talked about the workshop the entire weekend. We do a lot of cool travel activities and this has to rank up with one of our top activities ever in the world.